In this article, you’ll learn how tension settles in your muscles, why it happens, and how to help your body recover. Highly relevant for anyone with a packed schedule – and essential reading for employers and HR professionals who value sustainable wellbeing at work.

What happens in your body when you're stressed?
Stress in itself isn't the enemy. It sharpens your focus and prepares you for action. But when that tension becomes chronic, something shifts. Your body stays on high alert, as if a threat is always present. And muscles – especially in your neck, shoulders and lower back – respond by tightening continuously and unconsciously, even when you're relaxing on the couch.

Stress-related muscle stiffness is often subtle. Your mind feels drained, your breathing shallow, and your shoulders creep up by default. Your body mirrors what your mind is experiencing.

Why those areas in particular?
Neck, back and shoulders carry not just your posture, but your pressure and responsibilities. Think of expressions like "carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders," or "having a lot on your plate." These aren't just metaphors. Muscle tension acts as a bridge between psychological strain and physical symptoms.

When muscles are constantly slightly activated, blood flow decreases. Waste products accumulate, fibers stiffen, fascia becomes sticky. Breathing also plays a role: stressed breathing patterns keep the belly and chest in a subtle state of contraction. Meanwhile, your lower back compensates for prolonged sitting – a pattern exacerbated by stress.

The result? A tight, uncomfortable body that begins to speak up.

Mental strain, physical symptoms
It’s not just work pressure. Inner restlessness, worry, or anxiety also increase muscle tension – often without you noticing. Research shows that people with chronic stress or anxiety frequently have tense muscles, even when their heart rate or blood pressure appear normal.

This is called reduced physiological flexibility: the body becomes less responsive to change and stays tense for longer. A mismatch develops between what you feel and what your body is actually doing.

“... tense? I can be tense the whole day and then I have elevated shoulders. Don’t know why I do this and it is often subconscious. Cannot relax.”
— Participant, Holte et al., 2003

This isn't about sudden spikes of stress, but about lingering tension the body no longer knows how to release.

Workplace stress, muscle tension and CANS
Office jobs often come with high mental demands: processing large amounts of information, collaborating, deadlines. That pressure doesn't just affect your brain – it affects your body too. Long hours in static postures lead to sustained low-level muscle activation that builds quietly, until pain emerges.

Without adequate recovery time between tasks, tension accumulates. The Effort-Recovery model describes how constant job demands without sufficient recovery leads to mental fatigue and long-term physical complaints such as CANS (Complaints of Arm, Neck and Shoulder).

What can you do about stress-induced muscle stiffness?
Ongoing mental strain (like in demanding office roles) increases muscle tension even when you're not moving much. This is especially true for the neck and shoulder muscles and is strongly associated with the feeling of "perceived tension" – a subjective sense of tightness that correlates with real physical discomfort.

Thankfully, there are effective ways to reduce tension and reconnect with your body. Here are some key techniques:

Relaxing in stages: the power of Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)
Sometimes you know you’re tense, but you can’t pinpoint where. Or you feel constantly “on,” unable to switch off. Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) can be a surprisingly powerful way to unwind – both physically and mentally.

In PMR, you systematically tense and then relax different muscle groups. You might start at the feet and move gradually up to the face. The contrast between contraction and release not only calms your system but also raises awareness of hidden areas of tension.

PMR has been shown to be clinically effective for chronic stress, muscle tension, and even sleep problems. It can be done independently with audio guidance, or during a guided session. PMR activates your parasympathetic nervous system – the part responsible for rest and recovery.

Try PMR here 

Stretching: a powerful tool for tension (and better sleep)
If one technique consistently shows results in reducing muscle tension and improving sleep, it's regular, gentle stretching – particularly for the large muscle groups like neck, shoulders, hips and hamstrings.

It doesn't have to be long or intense. In fact, low-intensity stretching, done with awareness and ideally in the evening, has shown the most benefit. Three to five times a week, integrated into your routine, can make a real difference.

Why is it so effective? Stretching increases blood circulation, which improves oxygen delivery and helps clear out waste. It softens stiff muscle fibers and connective tissues. It also regulates cortisol, the stress hormone often elevated in chronic tension.

Even more importantly, it boosts your interoceptive awareness – your ability to feel what's happening inside your body. You begin to notice where tension hides and what your body needs in response.

In a world that pulls us into our heads, this is a simple yet powerful way to return to your body. It creates space not just in your muscles, but in your entire system.

Learn more about Stretch Sessions at Breathe. Move. Touch.

The healing touch: why massage is more than relaxation
A good massage offers more than just a relaxing break. For people with tension-related neck, shoulder or back complaints, it can be a direct path to relief and recovery.

Massage improves blood flow and helps release tight muscle fibers or trigger points. Through gentle, focused pressure, it reduces tonic muscle activity – the unconscious tension we carry without noticing. This makes a huge difference in areas that store stress, like the shoulders and lower back.

But massage also works on the nervous system. It activates the parasympathetic branch responsible for recovery and calm. Your heart rate drops, your breathing deepens, and your system resets.

Book your Massage Session here

Breathwork
What about breathing exercises? While breathwork may not lower objectively measurable muscle tension, it does reduce perceived stress and enhances executive function. That directly contributes to lowering perceived tension – the internal sense of tightness that strongly correlates with physical discomfort.

Finally: listen to your body
Muscle tension is a signal. Not a weakness. Not a mistake. But an invitation to pause. To feel. To breathe. To come back to yourself.

Lasting health starts with awareness.

Small care, big effect.
Breathe. Move. Touch.

Bibliography

Gawke, J. C., Gorgievski, M. J., & van der Linden, D. (2012). Office work and complaints of the arms, neck and shoulders: the role of job characteristics, muscular tension and need for recovery. Journal of occupational health, 54(4), 323–330. https://doi.org/10.1539/joh.11-0152-oa

Glaros, A. G., Marszalek, J. M., & Williams, K. B. (2016). Longitudinal Multilevel Modeling of Facial Pain, Muscle Tension, and Stress. Journal of dental research, 95(4), 416–422. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022034515625216

Hoehn-Saric, R., & McLeod, D. R. (2000). Anxiety and arousal: physiological changes and their perception. Journal of affective disorders, 61(3), 217–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0165-0327(00)00339-6

Holte, K. A., Vasseljen, O., & Westgaard, R. H. (2003). Exploring perceived tension as a response to psychosocial work stress. Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health, 29(2), 124–133. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.714

Liang, W. M., Xiao, J., Ren, F. F., Chen, Z. S., Li, C. R., Bai, Z. M., & Rukšenas, O. (2023). Acute effect of breathing exercises on muscle tension and executive function under psychological stress. Frontiers in psychology, 14, 1155134. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1155134

Mohammad, A., Elham, H., & Andreas, K. (2024). A scoping review of the effect of chronic stretch training on sleep quality in people with sleep disorders. European journal of applied physiology, 124(9), 2533–2545. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-024-05541-z

Muscolino, J. E. (2016). The Muscle and Bone Palpation Manual with Trigger Points, Referral Patterns and Stretching (4e ed.). Elsevier.

Norelli , S. K., Long, A., & Krepps, J. M. (2023). Relaxation Techniques. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.

Snellenberg, A. (2020). Handboek Sportmassage. Bohn Stafleu van Loghum.

Van der Kolk, B. (2015). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Penguin Books.